Related to the redwood, but deciduous, the bald cypress
puts on a new coat of light green feathery leaves in spring. By autumn it produces
cones re- sembling those of a redwood, except that they fall apart as they release
their seeds. When the leaves fall they fall in complete sprays. The wood is soft
and light and resistant to termites and dampness, as is redwood, and it is defi
nitely not a cypress. Bald cypress is famous for its ability to live in swamps,
which it does by raising pneumatophores from its roots to form “knees,”
presumably to breathe. For stability, it also develops buttresses. A specimen,
now gone, grew on the east side of the Angel of Grief (northeast of the Mausoleum)
but it did not have knees or buttresses, which of course would be unnecessary
to it in that situation. The University of California at Berkeley has specimens,
several of which are along Strawberry Creek, southwest of the Eucalyptus Grove.

Illustrations (links open new windows): habit |

Additions/Revisions:

Name derivation, genus | species Greek word taxus (yew) and eidos (resembling), referring to the similar leaf shapes | two-ranked (the needles)